Together
by Cynder and Lace
Summary: Hermione has been dating Fred since her fifth year. The war turns her world upside down. How will she survive?


AN: I don't own Harry Potter or anything like that.

Also, this is my first posting in a very long time. So forgive me, if I'm a bit rusty.

* * *

><p>Hermione flew into the Great Hall, looking desperately for the red-haired man she was hoping to find. She stopped short as she saw the entire Weasley family gathered in tears. <em>No. No. Please Merlin, no. <em> She ran as quickly as she could toward them. It was the flicker of light on silver that dropped her to her knees. Lying on the cots summoned for the dead was the owner of a goblin-wrought silver bracelet. The bracelet she'd given him just before the battle as a sign of their engagement. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. It was just hours ago that she'd last felt his lips against hers in a promise to see each other soon. It couldn't be him.

She thought she heard her name being called, but her eyes were fixated on the bracelet. She felt strong arms pulling her up and holding her. She tried to pull out of them, toward him, toward the bracelet. _Let this be an elaborate joke._ She felt the arms around her tighten and start leading her toward the sobbing family. She never looked into the face of the man holding her; she'd been in arms so similar to his that she knew. Even as he carefully hid his grief from her, she could feel it and she knew it was just as deep as hers. The three of them had shared a special connection since she and Fred had started dating in her fifth year. All the teasing and scolding had been done out of love and in an attempt to hide the budding relationship from Ron, Harry and Ginny. Even the threats were faked. Hermione's first kiss was just after the Quidditch match that had had the boys banned for life. She had held Fred in her arms in their favorite hiding spot while he cried. The moment had turned into a heated snogging session, resulting in them being caught by the Headmaster. Instead of deducting points from two of his favorite students, he directed them to their common room before Umbridge came along.

As Hermione stared at her fiancé's body lying prone on the cot, her mind ran through all of her favorite memories of them. Their first kiss in the dark halls of Hogwarts. The first time they danced, the first time they made love. The way he held her at Dumbledore's funeral. The smile on his face when she told him she was pregnant. The tears they both shed when she lost the baby after Malfoy Manor. She watched as Ron stepped to the side to let her in. Kneeling at Fred's side, she let out an animalistic howl of pain and despair. She brushed his hair, dark with dried blood from his eyes.

"He hates his hair in his eyes. He can't see." She whispered. She transfigured a button into a cloth and dampened it. Carefully, as if he were only sleeping, she cleaned the blood, dirt and grime from his face, neck and hands. She cleaned the bracelet of blood and kissed it. "Come back to me, Fred. Don't leave me like this." She saw George sit on his brother's other side. She hadn't noticed the rest of the Weasley family pull back to allow George and Hermione the space to prepare Fred. Hermione registered the whispers behind her, but failed to put any identity to the words spoken. Right now the entire world consisted of only the three of them. She looked at George and saw the tears falling shamelessly and felt them on her own cheeks.

"Who was it, George." It wasn't a question. She was quiet and shell shocked. She knew that he was the only one who could hear her.

"I think it was Rookwood." George answered, just as quietly. Hermione nodded.

"Is he dead?" Hermione was savage. She looked up from Fred to look at his twin. He nodded, "Percy killed him." Hermione's eyes widened and she turned to look at the rest of the family. Percy had been standing off to the side while everyone else was holding each other. Her eyes connected with his and she held her hand out to him. Neither said a word as she pulled him gently to sit down with them. She handed Percy a dampened cloth and watched as he helped clean Fred. Molly watched the small ritual with a broken heart. She'd been confused as to why Hermione had taken the traditional place of a fiancée or wife until Arthur had pointed out that Hermione was indeed wearing his mother's engagement ring. Fred had proposed sometime in the chaos before the battle.

Hermione sat by Fred's side in vigil while his gravesite at the Burrow was prepared. Tradition called for her to sit by his side preparing him for burial. She was supposed to have started hours ago, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She hadn't properly cried for him yet. She kept expecting him to pop up and say that it was all an elaborate joke. As the clock struck midnight, Hermione felt another presence enter the room.

"It doesn't feel real, does it?" George asked, coming up and sitting next to her. He put his arm around her shoulders and held her as she shattered. It seemed as if their world had completely come undone. George was unsure of how to deal with the shop. Hermione was unsure how she would go on without him. As Hermione's tears started to taper off, George pulled her closer. He kissed her head comfortingly. "I don't know how to do this, Hermione."

"I don't either, George. He was everything. To both of us. How do we move on?" her voice was barely a whisper.

"Together."


End file.
